Railway wrecking-frog



(No Model.)

M. PARRALL. RAILWAY WREGKING FROG.

No. 602,597. Patented Apr. 19,1898.

IINTTED STATES PATENT rrrcn.

MICHAEL FARRALL, OF BARABOO, WISCONSIN.

RAILWAY WRECKING-FROG.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 602,597, dated April19, 1898.

Application filed December a, 1897. Serial in. 661,165. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MICHAEL FARRALL, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Baraboo, in the county of Sank and State of WVisconsin,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway W'recking-Frogs; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, andexact description thereof.

My invention has for its object to provide simple, economical, andreversible railway wrecking-frogs that may be quickly positioned andfirmly held in place.

It therefore consists in certain peculiarities of construction andcombination of parts hereinafter set forth with reference to theaccompanying drawings and subsequently claimed.

Figure 1 of the drawings represents an end elevation of a pair of myimproved railway wrecking-frogs and means for holding the same inposition for service, the track-rails to which they are secured beingshown in transverse section; Fig. 2, a partly-sectional view of one ofthe frogs indicated by line 2 2 in the fourth figure; Fig. 3, a similarview indicated by line 3 3 in the succeeding figure, and Fig. 4 a planview of said frogs positioned for service.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A A represent cross-ties, B Btrack-rails thereon, and O D a pair of outside and inside wrecking-frogsin accordance with my invention. Each of the wrecking-frogs embodies ahorizontal base provided with longitudinal side flanges andupwardly-projecting ribs,as hereinafter more particularly specified.

The bases of the wrecking-frogs are triangular in shape, and theirrespective side flanges b b are designed to fit against the webs oftrack-rails, between the treads and flanges of the same. Inasmuch as thewrecking-frogs herein shown are reversible each of the same isnecessarily provided with two longitudinal side flanges.

In pivotal connection with the under side of each frog is a bar E,having a longitudinal tapered slot in its outer free end, and in slipengagement with each bar is an angular metal block F, that fits upon atrack-rail to constitute a clamp, this casting being held in workingposition by a wedge-key G, driven in a bar-slot, as clearly shown inFigs. 1 and 4.

v While each frog-base is shown provided with a depending pivot-loopengaging a bar-aperture, this pivotal connection of frog-base and barmay be varied in practice Without departure from myinvention, and assaid bar in working position comes under a track-rail intermediate ofcrossties the frog in connection therewith may be readily positioned forservice.

The outside frog 0 is herein shown as having its base provided with anupper inclined swell c, surmounted by a central rib d, from whichdiverging branches 6 e extend forward past the narrow'end of said basefar enough to permit of either branch overlapping the full width of anadjacent track-rail, the gradual elevation of said rib and branchesnecessary to bring the latter above the track-rail being due to theswell on the aforesaid base. The forward ends of the diverging ribbranches are rounded or otherwise gradually diminished in elevation toterminate practically flush with the tread of a track-rail overlapped byeither.

It may be found practical to omit the swell c of the aforesaid frog-baseand have the rib d and its branches rise direct from said base, theforward ends of these branches being angularly notched in order that aportion of either may overlap a track-rail when the frog is in positionfor service.

The base of the inside frogD is shown as a flat plate surmounted by acentral inclined upper guard-rib f, having its forward end extendedbeyond the narrow end of said base and taper-pointed, so that eitherside may be parallel with a track-rail flange and snug against the samewhen said frog is positioned for service. Parallel with the guard-rib,in opposite directions therefrom, are other ribs 9 g, and thus a grooveis had intermediate of said guard-rib and each of the others parallelthereto. In practice it may be found convenient to omit the guard-riband have each of ribs g g constitute a guard for the flange of acar-wheel rolling on the other. While each of the ribs 9 g may be'ofsolid acute-angle form, having their outer sides flush with thelongitudinal edges of the frogbase, they are herein shown in skeletonform, whereby a saving of metal is effected, and the aforesaid flanges bare virtually lateral eX- tensions of said ribs. All the ribs f g ggraduallyascend to a height equal to that of a trackrail, and thelongitudinal edge of the frogbase surmounted by these ribs is preferablymade to have overlapping fit upon a trackrail flange, this latterfeature being best illustrated in Fig. 1. 7

From the foregoing it will be understood that the frog 0 is the one uponwhich to run car-wheels whose flanges must cross a trackrail to come inproper position against the inner side of its tread, and owing to thecontour of rib d and its branches 6 c said wheels readily find theirproper arrangement with respect to said track-rail without injuriousresults. In other words, the car-wheels will move along the rib d andthat one of its branches that for the time being overlaps the tread of atrack-rail, the flanges of said wheels coming against the inside of saidrib and branches and thereafter inside of the trackrail withoutappreciable jar or contact of said flanges with said tread.

The frog D guides other car-wh eels to place on a track-rail parallel tothe one to which the former frog is made fast, it being understood thatthe latter car-wheels travel on one of the ribs 9 or g with theirflanges in the adjacent groove and thereafter pass onto the adjacenttrack-rail.

As shown, the wrecking-frogs are set to facilitate replacing cars in onedirection of the railway, but they may be reversed to permit of saidcars being replaced in the opposite direction. It also follows that frog0 may be arranged outside of rail B and frog D inside of rail 13 insteadof the reverse herein shown.

Inasmuch as the frogs herein set forth have support on crossties and arefirmly clamped to trackrails they are not liable to slip out ofposition, and being reversible they are effective under variousconditions that render their service necessary.

lVhile I have shown and described pre ferred means for holding saidfrogs in position for service, it is possible that other means may bedevised for the same purpose, and therefore I do not limit myself tothose set forth.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. An outside railway wrecking-frog comprising a horizontal triangularbase provided with an upper inclined central rib having divergingbranches extended beyond the forward narrow end of the base and sodesigned that the one innermost at any time may overlap the tread of atrack-rail and terminate practically flush therewith, an inside railwaywrecking-frog comprising a triangular base provided with upperacute-angle inclined ribs each having its inner side facing a parallelgroove and its outer side flush with a longitudinal edge of thecorresponding base, and suitable means for securing both frogs inposition for service.

2. An outside railway wrecking-frog, comprising a horizontal triangularbase provided with an upper inclined rib having diverging branchesextending beyond the forward narrow end of the base and so designed thatthe one innermost at any time may overlap the tread of a track-rail andterminate practically flush therewith,an inside railway wrecking-frogcomprising a triangular base provided with acute-angle inclined ribseach having its inner side facing a parallel groove and its outer sideflush with a longitudinal edge of the corresponding base, longitudinalside flanges on each frog adapted to fit against webs of track-railsbetween treads and flanges of the same, a bar in pivotal connection withthe under side of each frog,a track-rail clam pblock in slidingengagement with each bar, and a bar-engaging wedge-key arranged to holdeach clamp-block in working position.

3. An outside railway wrecking-frog comprising a horizontal triangularbase provided with an upper inclined center rib having divergingbranches extended beyond the forward narrow end of the base and sodesigned that the one innermost at any time may overlap the tread of atrack-rail and terminate practically flush therewith, an inside railwaywrecking-frog comprising a triangular base provided with a longitudinalupper center rib having a taper-point extending beyond the forwardnarrow end of the base for snug alinement against a track-rail flangeand acuteangle inclined ribs that have their inner sides parallel withthe center rib in opposite directions therefrom at a predetermineddistance, their outer sides being parallel to longitudinal edges of thecorresponding base; and suitable means for securing both frogs inposition for service.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, atBaraboo, in the county of Sauk and State of Visconsin, in the presenceof two witnesses.

MICHAEL FARRALL.

lVitnesses:

F. C. BULLARD, JOHN GoLDING.

